Addicted to Caffeine - increased risk of DCS?

[NJDiveGirl]

stupid question???

I CANNOT start a day without a cup of coffee - I do this everyday and any day... Even a diving day. Is this putting me at an increased risk for DCS?

 

[pipedope]

I think that for a coffee drinker not having your morning drink would put you more at risk.

Besides, the symptoms of coffee deprivation would make diagnosis of DCI much more difficult.

If coffee was really bad for divers and diving then most commercial and Navy diving operations would come to a dead stop.

Most people think that Navy ships run on oil of some kind.
Wrong!
Navy ships run on COFFEE.
With no coffee everything comes to a stop. With coffee the sailors will come up with a way arround, over, under or through anything else.

 

[drbill]

I'm only one data point, but I normally drink three cups of coffee in the morning, even on dive days. However I also drink plenty of water and carry water with me to the dive site. My kidneys get a bit of a workout, but so far (after 41 years) no problems that appear to be coffee-related.

Dr. Bill

 

[DandyDon]

I generally drink one or two Quarts in the morning, and a couple more throughout the day when the weather is hot, more when it's cold.

The main reason for discouraging coffee while diving as the Non-Professional understands it is that it's a diuretic, which will make your whiz more, which reduces fluids, thereby reducing blood volume, increasing the change of DCS. So I drink more coffee to compensate.

'Course, my body is acclimated to an arid clime, so I may retain more water than most anyway. And I drink a lot of Apple Juice between dives, too.

Not everyone whizs in the wetsuits, though; some lie about it...

don

 

[DocVikingo]

No studies of which I am aware, but provided that caffeine intake is limited & good hydration maintained there is no apparent reason to suspect increased risk of DCS from coffee.

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual, and should not be construed as such.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[Charlie99]

Sudafed/pseudoephedrine is commonly believed to predispose you to CNS toxicity.

Caffeine has some of the same effects on me as does pseudoephedrine.

Does it follow that caffeine also predisposes you to CNS oxtox?

Does anybody know of any studies on this subject?

 

[missileman62]

Coffee and Rice make Navy ships go. And if I have problems getting things from supply nothing greases the wheels faster taking down a big dish of freshly made rice and a few cans of spam...but of course it is all washed down with coffee...LOL all jokes aside. I don't think a little coffee hurt anyone as long as they don't exceed the NDL...

Missileman

 

[DandyDon]

Charlie99 once bubbled...
Sudafed/pseudoephedrine is commonly believed to predispose you to CNS toxicity.

Caffeine has some of the same effects on me as does pseudoephedrine.

Does it follow that caffeine also predisposes you to CNS oxtox?

Does anybody know of any studies on this subject?

Charlie,

I don't think there have been any studies on pseudoephedrine (PCE) even. The warnings are based on anecdotal evidence and theory - well based it seems, but not studies, last I heard.

Doc, can you offer a professional opinion...? :doc:

missileman62 once bubbled...
Coffee and Rice make Navy ships go. And if I have problems getting things from supply nothing greases the wheels faster taking down a big dish of freshly made rice and a few cans of spam...but of course it is all washed down with coffee...LOL all jokes aside. I don't think a little coffee hurt anyone as long as they don't exceed the NDL...

Missileman

It's not NDL we have to worry about on Nitrox; it's Oxygen under pressure.

OW traing is where we all start, fellow, but there's a lot more to learn. Be careful about assuming something should be okay.

I was trying to explain this to my NC rommate, a greenhorn not actually qualified to be on our trip. He didn't understand some of my cautions. I tried to give an analogy even a hillbilly could understand:

"Imagine you blow a balloon up until it bursts. One breath before it it was burst, it was doing fine. Just because something hasn't hurt yet doesn't mean it's not about to hurt.

don

 

[missileman62]

DCS means what? Decompression sickness...correct? Where did I make my mistake? If I hang out at lets say 100 fsw for 30 minutes have I not past the NDL and just increased my chance of getting DCS? IF I just decide to return to the surface w/o the proper deco stop Also please try re-reading your whole balloon bursting have to do with Oxygen example, perhaps you could slow it down for me a little bit more, please?

At the start of the Thread where does NJ Dive Girl put Nitrox into the question? Thus being from Vermont a state with green trees and wild animals much like NC I am still not getting the point of your...Its Oxygen under pressure is the problem.

Missileman

 

[BillP]

Charlie99 asked...
Sudafed/pseudoephedrine is commonly believed to predispose you to CNS toxicity.

Caffeine has some of the same effects on me as does pseudoephedrine.

Does it follow that caffeine also predisposes you to CNS oxtox?

Does anybody know of any studies on this subject?

Howdy Charlie99:

The only study of caffeine and CNS oxygen toxitity that I'm aware of shows that it protects against hyperoxia induced seizures- in rats at least.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8574677&dopt=Abstract

HTH,

Bill